The Tragedy of Macbeth (1971)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play) and
Roman Polanski (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

13 October 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord siezes the throne with the help of his scheming wife and a trio of witches.

Plot Keywords:

Wife | King | Throne | Shakespeare | Tragedy

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jon Finch	...	Macbeth
Francesca Annis	...	Lady Macbeth
Martin Shaw	...	Banquo
Terence Bayler	...	Macduff
John Stride	...	Ross
Nicholas Selby	...	Duncan
Stephan Chase	...	Malcolm
Paul Shelley	...	Donalbain
Maisie MacFarquhar	...	First Witch
Elsie Taylor	...	Second Witch
Noelle Rimmington	...	Third Witch
Noel Davis	...	Seyton
Sydney Bromley	...	Porter
Richard Pearson	...	Doctor
Patricia Mason	...	Gentlewoman
Michael Balfour	...	First Murderer
Andrew McCulloch	...	Second Murderer
Keith Chegwin	...	Fleance
Andrew Laurence	...	Lennox
Bernard Archard	...	Angus
Bruce Purchase	...	Caithness
Frank Wylie	...	Menteith
Diane Fletcher	...	Lady Macduff
Mark Dightam	...	Macduff's Son
Bill Drysdale	...	King's Groom
Roy Jones	...	King's Groom
Vic Abbott	...	Cowdor
Ian Hogg	...	First Thane
Geoffrey Reed	...	Second Thane
Nigel Ashton	...	Third Thane
William Hobbs	...	Young Seyward
Alf Joint	...	Old Seyward
Paul Hennen	...	Doctor's Apprentice
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Olga Anthony	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Roy Desmond	...	Dancer (uncredited)
David Ellison	...	Old Soldier (uncredited)
Pamela Foster	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Clement Freud	...	Hanging Man (uncredited)
John Gordon	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Barbara Ann Grimes	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Aud Johansen	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Janie Kells	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Ronald Lacey	...	Macbeths man - killed Banquo (uncredited)
Howard Lang	...	Old Soldier (uncredited)
Dickie Martyn	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Terence Mountain	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Beth Owen	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Christine Paul-Podlasky	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Lynette Reade	...	A witch (uncredited)
Maxine Skelton	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Don Vernon	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Anna Willoughby	...	Dancer (uncredited)

Directed by
Roman Polanski

Writing credits
William Shakespeare		(play)
Roman Polanski		writer
Kenneth Tynan		writer

Produced by
Andrew Braunsberg	....	producer
Timothy Burrill	....	associate producer
Hugh M. Hefner	....	executive producer
Victor Lownes	....	assistant executive producer

Original Music by
The Third Ear Band

Cinematography by
Gilbert Taylor		(as Gil Taylor)

Film Editing by
Alastair McIntyre

Casting by
Miriam Brickman

Production Design by
Wilfred Shingleton		(as Wilfrid Shingleton)

Art Direction by
Fred Carter

Set Decoration by
Bryan Graves

Costume Design by
Anthony Mendleson

Makeup Department
Biddy Chrystal	....	chief hair stylist
Tom Smith	....	key makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hercules Bellville	....	second unit director
Simon Relph	....	first assistant director
Michael Green	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Nigel Wooll	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Jack Stephens	....	assistant art director
Kenneth Tynan	....	artistic advisor

Sound Department
Jonathan Bates	....	dubbing editor
Simon Kaye	....	sound mixer
Nolan Roberts	....	dubbing mixer
John Ireland	....	dialogue editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ted Samuels	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Gerald Larn	....	matte painter (uncredited)

Stunts
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
Russ Jones	....	stunt double: broadsword (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alec Mills	....	camera operator
Maurice Gillett	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jackie Breed	....	wardrobe
Philippe Pickford	....	wardrobe (as Phil Pickford)

Other crew
Angela Allen	....	continuity
Sally Gilpin	....	choreographer
William Hobbs	....	fight director
David W. Orton	....	production advisor
Jeremy Taylor	....	horse master
Richard Vetter	....	process consultant

Production Companies

• Caliban Films
• Playboy Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1971) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Macbeth (USA)

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1985) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Canada:14A (Alberta) (re-rating) (1999) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (DVD rating) | Finland:K-15 (2002) (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 (1972) (cut version) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bamburgh Castle, Bamburgh, Northumberland, England, UK

Company:

Caliban Films

Trivia:

Director Roman Polanski's wife, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered by Charles Manson three years before the making of the film. It is believed that due to this traumatic event, Polanski developed the story to be a more violent representation of Shakespeare's play. For instance, the scene in which Macbeth murders King Duncan was not in the original play and was instead implied.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The lyrics to the song that Fleance sings at Macbeth's banquet for Duncan at Inverness are taken from the poem "Merciles Beautè" by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the context of the film this extraneously inserted song is itself an anachronism, as Chaucer lived in the fourteenth century and Shakespeare's "Macbeth" historically takes place in the eleventh century.

Quotes:

Duncan: There's no art to find the mind's constuction in the face.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jim and the Infidels (2008)

very good adaptation

Roman Polanski's blood-soaked version of Shakespeare's Scottish play was the video version of choice when we were studying this at school, in spite of it having a nude Lady Macbeth and witches (and Keith Chegwin in the cast - he's Banquo's son).

Jon Finch has the lead and he is exceptionally good. Even a dagger which really appears to float before him (an effect not needed) doesn't spoil things. Odd that he never really got good movie roles after this. His Lady M is Francesca Annis, a spider of a schemer, also putting in a good performance.

Less adequate are Martin Shaw as Banquo, Stephan Chase as Malcolm, and Sydney Bromley as the Porter, although Terence Bayler gives good value as Macduff.

Perhaps this Macbeth is the first one to be truly cinematic, something that even Orson Welles couldn't achieve with Scots accents and Scandinavian settings. It remains memorable long after seeing and, in its excesses, opens up the text for a new generation, and finally, sees the repellent murdering usurper get what he deserves.

(Incidentally for perspective, the book 'Macbeth - man and myth' by Nick Aitchison looks at the real historic facts in accessible coffee-table book style).